A funny feature of the postal system in UAE (and much of the middle east) - mails are not delivered to your doorstep! Not unless you use courier services like DHL. All mails sent by normal snail mails are handled by the Emirates Post. You have to open a PO box at the nearest post office to receive your mails. This is a picture of a PO box room in the Ruwais post office. This is where I check my mails (only done that once) for my office. Street names are apparently quite ambiguous and people usually go by landmarks when giving an address. Furthermore, sometimes the same street has different names depending with whom you are talking to! And every city seems to have a Sheikh Zayed Road (I've seen that in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi & Dubai). Sheikh Zayed is the former President of UAE & Ruler of Abu Dhabi. He was largely credited for his efforts in transforming UAE into what it is today.
2 comments:
Ah...Now i know why the addresses in Middle East has PO Boxes. I used to send letters on behalf on my ex-boss in Corus. As well as preparing her itinerary if she is going to Dubai. Always made me wonder, why are all addresses with PO Boxes only - ODD!!!
Hahaha.... i was wondering too when I first arrived. And they called their postal services as very advanced! Many people are in fact complaining that post delivery is slow (worse than Malaysia!) even when they only need to deliver to PO boxes.
And if you use DHL, you need to specify landmarks in your address.
Eg. 123, ABC Building, Sheikh Hamdan Street, Corner of Salam St, Opposite KFC, Abu Dhabi... or something like that! And the name of certain roads in Dubai change depending with whom you are talking to!! So landmarks are the only things permanent!
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